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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Philosophy or Action

One of the preachers I listen to via podcast is Aaron Brockett from Trader's Point Christian Church in Indianapolis. In the sermon I listened to today as I walked Barkley, Aaron said; "If your belief continues to be a philosophy and not action it will sour within you."

It is so easy to mentally agree with the Bible and vocally declare Christ Jesus as Lord, but it is far more difficult to live a life of obedience. We would much rather come to a worship service once a week and listen to a sermon.

The reality is that faith is, at times, very difficult. Faith is difficult because it requires us to sacrifice. Faith will make associate with people we would rather avoid and serve in ways whichmake us very uncomfortable. Yet, if our faith isn't pushing us outside of our comfort zones, then it will not remain faith for very long. Eventually faith will shrivel and die.

While faith is rooted in what we believe, it requires us to eventually live out that belief. The reason so many of us feel stunted in our spiritual growth is because we have not taken the step of obedience. It is not a lack of knowledge that kills faith, but a lack of action.

This is one of the points Jesus made in His teaching on the wise and foolish builders. Remember to whom Jesus compared the wise builder who built his house on rock? Jesus compared the wise man to a person who hears and obeys. That is the key to spiritual growth: obedience.

We can have the right philosophy, but if we aren't doing the right actions then we aren't living by faith. True faith combines right philosophy with right action. The two go together.